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Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the Merced River threatened by Merced Irrigation

Legislation has been proposed to change the boundary of the Merced Wild and Scenic River in order
to accommodate raising the New Exchequer dam and the level of Lake McClure in California. The
Wild and Scenic Merced River, located in the central Sierra Nevadas, is feeling the pressure to
increase the water supply for irrigation for the San Joaquin Valley. The Merced Irrigation
District seeks to increase the carrying capacity of Lake McClure behind New Exchequer Dam, which
will push reservoir levels into the Wild and Scenic reach of the river.

Congressman Jeff Denham has introduced HR869, which proposes to change the boundary of the Wild
and Scenic portion of the Merced River to allow the Merced Irrigation District to elevate Lake
McClure’s normal pool and flood control storage elevation from 867 feet to 877 feet.
The bill is cosponsored by Congressmen Devin Nunes, Jim Costa, Kevin McCarthy and Dennis
Cardoza. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 1968 to protect the free-flowing
character and outstandingly remarkable values of our nation’s rivers. If passed, this
bill would be the first time in history that Congress has reversed course to allow a
reservoir to flood a stretch of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

The Merced River, which begins in Yosemite National Park and flows through the San Joaquin
Valley, was designated as a Wild and Scenic River in 1987. The river’s stunning
scenery was not untouched by dams when it was designated. Lake McClure was created by the
New Exchequre Dam in 1967. The rockfill dam is owned by the Merced Irrigation District and
provides water to irrigate 130,000 acres of farmland. Lake McClure currently has a capacity
of 1,024,000 acre-feet. Using standard “rules of thumb” for storage to yield ratios,
the District’s hoped-for expansion of New Exchequer Dam might increase water supplies by
approximately 2% — a small gain that would come at great price to the National Wild &
Scenic Rivers System.

Ironically, the debate over how to manage the precious resources within our National Parks began
with the damming of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite in 1913. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
further serves to protect free-flowing rivers within the Park system and beyond, and changing the
boundary of a Wild and Scenic river would unravel the protections we have worked so hard to
secure.